Matthew Vaughn‘s The Secret Service is loaded with big, established stars like Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Caine. But when it comes to the film’s younger cast members it seems Vaughn prefers fresher faces.

Relative newcomer Taron Egerton won one of the leads earlier this summer, and now the even lesser known Sophie Cookson has booked the female lead. Hit the jump for more about the project and its newest addition.

The shot above is the image released to celebrate the wrap of shooting on Bryan Singer‘s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which finished it’s last days over the weekend.

The pic shows the film’s core characters. While we know that the film really brings together the cast of Singer’s original movies with the cast from the First Class prelude, Comic Con footage and other materials that have emerged since really suggest that this is a story about the evolution of Charles Xavier, with fellow First Class teammate Beast along for the ride and Wolverine as a guiding force. And so there’s your core trio.

But Days of Future Past may only be the next chapter in Fox’s evolving strategy to develop more and more films based on the Marvel characters licensed to the studio. Fox also has Fantastic Four on the way, and an X-Force movie in development. With that pic out of the way, the bigger topic is the potential connectivity developing between the X-Men movies and Fantastic Four. Read More »

The two major things missing from Kick-Ass 2 constitute the two major problems with an otherwise decent sequel. Those things are Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman. Vaughn, who directed Kick-Ass in 2010, is an incredibly talented director. Goldman, who wrote the first film, is a fantastic screenwriter. They both return as producers this time around, but their respective duties have taken over by Jeff Wadlow, the director of Cry_Wolf and Never Back Down. Wadlow has an obvious passion for this material and does an admirable job at times. Without Vaughn directing Goldman’s words, however, Kick-Ass 2 never comes close to the energy and smarts of the first movie.

That said, fans of the original will enjoy all the new characters, the many tense/violent situations, and the uptempo, fun pacing. Kick-Ass 2 doesn’t reach the dizzying heights of the first movie, but in the realm of flawed sequels, it’s pretty entertaining. Read More »

There have been rumors about Michael Caine joining the cast of Matthew Vaughn‘s film The Secret Service, and now that casting is confirmed by the creator of the source comic.

Peter got the chance to interview Kick-Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow and original comics writer Mark Millar at Comic Con, and during their talk Millar said the cast for Vaughn’s film is fully set. He confirmed that Caine is in the picture along withColin Firth, but declined to name the younger actor who’ll play the street kid groomed as a British secret agent.

When I sat down to do my Kick-Ass 2 interview at Comic-Con, I was only expecting to talk to director Jeff Wadlow. But when I looked up from hitting the record button on my recorder, I was surprised to see Kick-Ass creator/writer Mark Millar also sitting at the table.

When the first Kick-Ass hit theaters, it came under fire for its copious and unapologetic violence. With about two months to go until the release date, it appears that Kick-Ass 2 will get more of the same. But this time, some of the criticism is coming from a rather unexpected place.

Star Jim Carrey has hit Twitter to publicly denounce the violence in the film, saying he “cannot support” it in the wake of Sandy Hook. Shortly afterward, Mark Millar, who penned the movie’s comic book source material, issued his own measured response to Carrey’s announcement. “Jim, I love ya and I hope you reconsider,” he wrote. Hit the jump to read both of their comments.

There’s a new red-band trailer for Jeff Wadlow‘s Kick-Ass 2, and while the edit features only a shred of new footage, it does feature some better digital compositing and probably closer-to-final contrast tweaks and color grading to help elements co-exist. Notably, the bit towards the end with Hit Girl riding atop a cargo van now looks much better; see a screenshot below for a comparison. Otherwise, this is basically the same trailer that you’ve seen before, with Kick-Ass and Hit Girl fighting off the new wave of villains led by a re-branded Red Mist. Read More »

On November 1st 2012, I visited the set of The Wolverine in Sydney, Australia. To give you an idea of the timeline of my visit, Hurricane Sandy had just wreaked havoc in New York, and I woke up early one morning from the constant noises coming from my computer because I was getting so many notices of the breaking news that Disney had purchased LucasFilm and was making more Star Wars movies.

It is five in the morning and I’m standing in a street lined with Japanese houses covered with snow. The elaborate set was built in a huge parking lot that was built for the 2000 Olympic games. Flakes of snow fall as ninjas run and ride motorcycles along the rooftops. Hugh Jackman is hanging off the top of a snow plow as it barrels down the street, away from a crowd of masked ninjas. Jackman, employing safety harnesses, flips to his feet on top of the snowplow and “activates” his claws. The second unit director calls “cut”, and Hugh notices our little grouping of press off in the corner and yells out “So you guys a pulling an all nighter? Why don’t you put some ninja suits on and get in the action?”

After the jump you will find a compilation of interesting facts I learned while visiting the set.

Colin Firth is ready to step into the world of comic book movies. The Oscar winner has entered talks to star in Matthew Vaughn‘s The Secret Service, an adaptation of Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons‘ comic book of the same title. Firth would play a James Bond-esque figure who takes his nephew under his wing and grooms him for spy work. More details after the jump.

UPDATE: Exhibitor Relations reports a November 14, 2014 release has been set.

When Matthew Vaughndropped out of X-Men: Days of Future Past, many speculated it was because the Star Wars Episode VII job was up for grabs. That may or may not have been the case, but Mark Millarcame out and said Vaughn’s departure from X-Men was to collaborate on a project called The Secret Service. Millar wasn’t lying.

20th Century Fox just secured the rights to The Secret Service, based on a comic by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, adapted by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, and directed by Vaughn. The comic and the movie follow an older secret service agent who acts as mentor to a new recruit. Fox will reportedly fast track the film, hoping to have it in theaters in 2014. Read More »